The weather began to deteriorate, and while we never experienced any heavy squalls, the northeasterly wind picked up significantly and the temperature dropped rapidly. We arrived at the New Smyrna Beach City Marina on Thursday morning, April 1 and from Friday afternoon through Saturday night, we had wind gusts well into the 30 knot range, and were glad to be secured in a well-protected marina slip. We even turned on the heat Saturday morning when the temperature dipped into the low 50’s! Once we had dug the few warm clothes we had on board out of their lockers, we walked into town in search of breakfast, and then walked through the local farmer’s market.
Dawn Departures - commonplace, when transiting the Intracoastal Waterway
Lisa needed to pick up a prescription refill, so on Saturday afternoon, we took a Lyft ride across the Coronado Beach Bridge to the beach side of New Smyrna Beach. A friend of ours had recommended we try dinner at a restaurant called Garlic, but when we went by on the way to Walgreen’s, we saw it was absolutely packed. Our driver quickly suggested we just walk across a side street from the Walgreen’s and have dinner at Boston’s Fish House. We took his advice, and wow, what a meal! No disrespect to all the fabulous seafood we’ve had in all of the various places we’ve been to and lived in – but this was, hands down, the best seafood meal either of us had in recent memory. Lisa ordered grilled, wild-caught Scottish Salmon, and I had swordfish steaks, also grilled. It was absolutely fantastic. We will certainly try Garlic, given the opportunity, but our first stop when back in New Smyrna Beach will be Boston’s. No doubt.
For those of you who don’t know us, Lisa is the church goer in the family, and I’m the Pagan-Heathen of the family. Sunday in New Smyrna Beach was Easter Sunday, and while we were at Boston’s the evening before, Lisa declared she wanted to go to church for Easter services. The weather was calming and we were both anxious to be moving again, but if she was going to get to church, we would have a very late start. New Smyrna Beach is around 18 miles south of Daytona Beach, so before our drinks arrived at the table, I had made reservations at Halifax Harbor Marina in Dayton Beach for Sunday night, as decent anchorages in the area are minimal. As it turned out, there were no Lyft or Uber drivers available Easter morning; even the local taxis weren’t running. Lisa never made her church service, but she did watch Easter Services from her ‘home’ church in Atlanta via the church website.
We enjoyed a leisurely motor run from New Smyrna to Daytona Beach Easter Sunday and were secured in our marina slip by three in the afternoon. We took some time to walk around a portion of the downtown Daytona area, which was completely quiet, and were back at the boat within an hour. Lisa made a lovely chili dinner and we were soon fast asleep, planning an early morning departure for St. Augustine.
Shortly after 7am Monday morning we were underway once again. We had a long day ahead, though not a difficult one, as the Waterway here is more or less a canal, following a relatively straight path between the barrier islands and mainland coast of central-north Florida. The northerly winds were light, but still on the nose. We glided through the small communities of Flagler Beach and Palm Coast, and past various historic sites such as Ft. Matanzas, the site of a Spanish fortification dating back to the 1740’s. We arrived in St. Augustine in the late afternoon, and sped towards the Bridge of Lions drawbridge, desperately hoping to make the 4pm opening, as the bridge would enter lockdown for rush-hour traffic at 5:00. Lisa called the bridge tender on the radio who told her, “as long as you’re in position to make the opening, you can go through.” I opened the throttle a bit more on our small Yanmar diesel. Fortunately, we had the outgoing tide with us and made the opening with little trouble, though we were the last boat through.
Our lovely anchorage, just north of St. Augustine, Florida; the Trawler Yacht TRANSITIONS is visible, anchored in the distance
We had hoped to stop for the night at the St. Augustine mooring Field, but no moorings were available. A scan of our charts and cruising guides showed two viable anchorage areas further north of the city, with one at about 10 miles distant and the other at 12 miles. We opted for the closer spot, provided there was sufficient room when we arrived. We needn’t have worried, once we were there, there was only one boat anchored, a small trawler-yacht we recognized from Halifax Harbor the night before. The anchorage was, however, filled with numerous crab trap marker buoys. After motoring around and checking depths, we settled on a 12’ deep spot and set the ‘hook.’ It was a beautifully quiet and calm night in a lovely setting.
We were underway early the next morning, munching peanut butter and jam sandwiches for breakfast in the chilly and damp morning air as we motored back into the Waterway channel and began meandering north. By having anchored north of St. Augustine, we had a 10 mile advantage on the day, though we still needed to make nearly 60 miles to Fernandina Harbor Marina, in Fernandina Beach, FL. We have friends living in Fernandina Beach with whom we wanted to visit, as well as some FaceBook sailing friends, whom we’d never met face-to-face, staying at the marina. We also had to cross the St. Johns River, crowded with commercial and military ship traffic. The river crossing is quite confusing, with established security zones around various naval and coast guard vessels. There were also massive cargo ships maneuvering in the main river channel, and a mish-mash of navigational aids marking different routes and crossings. Soon we were across unscathed, though chastised by a navy security boat for getting too close to a navy vessel in dry-dock. Now, we were busy navigating the twisting, shallow waters of Sister’s Creek and Sawpit Creek.
When we left our anchorage that morning, our trawler yacht neighbors were still anchored, but they caught up with us soon after we entered Sister’s Creek. They hailed us on the radio and we had a pleasant conversation for several minutes. We never found out their names, but they are a retired couple from somewhere in New England, and are making their way north after spending time on the southwest coast of Florida this past winter. We also found out they had made a 10 year circumnavigation of the globe during the 1980’s and ‘90s on their 48 foot sailboat, which they nearly lost in a typhoon in the South Pacific. Their trawler yacht is named ‘TRANSITIONS.’
Soon enough, we entered the waters of Nassau Sound and TRANSITIONS passed us and moved ahead. Now, we had the incoming tide with us, and we sped through the sound and into the waters of the Amelia River, adjacent to Amelia Island. By 4:30, we were secured alongside the face dock at the Fernandina Harbor Marina and on our way to much needed showers. Once we were scrubbed and clean, we joined our FaceBook friends John and Lizzy on board their gorgeous Cabo Rico 56 sailboat QUETZAL for drinks. (We enjoyed some amazing Costa Rican rum, apparently only available in Costa Rica!) Later that evening, we walked into town for dinner with our friends Rusty and Phyllis. We were back aboard by 10pm, nearly dead to the world.
Motoring over a glassy calm sea, approximately 10 miles east of Cumberland Island, GA
The next day dawned bright, sunny, and warm. We were away from the dock by 8:30am, and while the forecast was good to be offshore for the last 30 or so miles to Brunswick, complete calms were the dominant forecast of the day. It was one of those rare times when the forecast was 100% accurate.
We motored out the St. Marys Channel, and between buoy numbers six and eight, turned our bow north on a course of 020°. The sea was like glass, and seabirds of all manner dove and fished around us. Dolphins swam with us for short moments, and we saw cannonball jellyfish by the hundreds. We even saw a couple of sea turtles.
The massive operation surrounding the wreck removal of the M/V GOLDEN RAY in St. Simons Sound
Shortly before noon, we could clearly see the twin spans of the Sidney Lanier Bridge near Jekyll Island, and in the early afternoon, the massive derrick like structure of the salvage apparatus over the foundered GOLDEN RAY cargo ship was clearly visible. At 3pm, we entered the St. Simons Sound Channel and with a push from incoming tide, jetted along at nearly eight knots into the sound. Once inside, we had to navigate around the wreck of the GOLDEN RAY.
M/V GOLDEN RAY in approximately 2017 - Marine Traffic File Photo
The GOLDEN RAY is a behemoth of a cargo ship laying on its starboard side just at the mouth of St. Simons Sound; more than two football fields in length and over 115’ wide, the ship weighs in at nearly 72,000 tons. It could haul more than 7,000 cars across oceans at speeds approaching 25mph. The ship was just two years old and loaded with slightly more than 4,000 cars bound for the Port of Baltimore, Maryland when in September 2019, it capsized and grounded in St. Simons Sound, while outbound from the Port of Brunswick. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, though stability, or lack thereof, would appear to be a major player in the event. The ship’s ballast control system is reportedly being given significant consideration as a direct cause. Miraculously, no one was killed or even seriously injured as a result of the massive ship rolling over. The majority of the crew and the local harbor pilot were rescued within hours. Three crew members were trapped in the engine room for several days and eventually rescued. The GOLDEN RAY and her cargo were quickly declared a total loss. As it sits where it was run aground in the sound, the ship is now being cut through like a loaf of bread from deck to keel, and slices are carried to the Port of Brunswick by barge for disposal.
M/V GOLDEN RAY, capsized in St. Simons Sound
By 5:30pm, we were secured along the fuel dock at Brunswick Landing Marina. We walked into town for burgers and beer, and soon enough, were back aboard and fast asleep. The next morning, we formally checked into the marina, topped up our diesel fuel tank, and moved to our slip-home for the next few weeks. Time to start new maintenance and repair projects and plan our trip to points north in more detail.
JO BETH, in her ‘in-port’ configuration at Brunswick Landing Marina, Brunswick, GA